ESA Observing the Earth

Sustainable cities

Magnetic oceans and electric Earth

Oceans might not be thought of as magnetic, but they make a tiny contribution to our planet’s protective magnetic shield. Remarkably, ESA’s Swarm satellites have not only measured this extremely faint field, but have also led to new discoveries about the electrical nature of inner Earth.

Earth from Space

Ouarkziz crater

Satellites help understand what fuels the twilight zone

The deep, dark twilight zone a kilometre down in the ocean is home to most of the world’s fish, but how they get enough food has largely been a mystery. Now, thanks to satellites and floating sensors, scientists have worked out how much energy is being pumped to the depths.

Alakol Lake

Earth from Space

Blanketed in smoke

Fine wine app wins top prize at App Camp

An app that uses satellite data to evaluate the quality of wine took home the top prize at this year’s Space App Camp at ESA’s centre in Frascati, Italy.

Fine wine app wins top prize at App Camp

An app that uses satellite data to evaluate the quality of wine took home the top prize at this year’s Space App Camp at ESA’s centre in Frascati, Italy.

App Camp wrap-up

Radar mission live

Poyang Lake

Earth from Space

Cool scene for MetOp-C

Revisit Open Science

Madeira scarred

Estonia signs up to Sentinel agreement

ESA and Enterprise Estonia have signed an arrangement that gives one of ESA’s newest Member States access to data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites.

Estonia signs up to Sentinel agreement

ESA and Enterprise Estonia have signed an arrangement that gives one of ESA’s newest Member States access to data from the Copernicus Sentinel satellites.

Open Science

Open Science

Open Science

Open Science

Barents bloom

Earth from Space

Vega to launch ESA’s wind mission

Today, ESA and Arianespace signed a contract to secure the launch of the Aeolus satellite. With this milestone, a better understanding of Earth’s winds is another step closer.

Vega to launch ESA’s wind mission

Today, ESA and Arianespace signed a contract to secure the launch of the Aeolus satellite. With this milestone, a better understanding of Earth’s winds is another step closer.

Arctic and Space

Upsala Glacier

Earth from Space

Intro to EO: sign up today

Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite hit by space particle

ESA engineers have discovered that a solar panel on the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite was hit by a millimetre-size particle in orbit on 23 August. Thanks to onboard cameras, ground controllers were able to identify the affected area. So far, there has been no effect on the satellite’s routine operations.

Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite hit by space particle

ESA engineers have discovered that a solar panel on the Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite was hit by a millimetre-size particle in orbit on 23 August. Thanks to onboard cameras, ground controllers were able to identify the affected area. So far, there has been no effect on the satellite’s routine operations.

Sentinel-1 provides new insight into Italy’s earthquake

On 24 August, an earthquake struck central Italy, claiming at least 290 lives and causing widespread damage. Satellite images are being used to help emergency aid organisations, while scientists have begun to analyse ground movement.

Sentinel-1 provides new insight into Italy’s earthquake

On 24 August, an earthquake struck central Italy, claiming at least 290 lives and causing widespread damage. Satellite images are being used to help emergency aid organisations, while scientists have begun to analyse ground movement.

First satellite-based wildlife monitoring tool for airports

Wildlife habitats close to airports pose a serious risk to safety at takeoff and landing. Thanks to ESA, a new service lets airports use satellites to identify and manage these areas.

First satellite-based wildlife monitoring tool for airports

Wildlife habitats close to airports pose a serious risk to safety at takeoff and landing. Thanks to ESA, a new service lets airports use satellites to identify and manage these areas.

Land shifts in Italy

Bridging the Bosphorus

FLEX takes on mutants

Because a plant isn’t green doesn’t mean it can’t photosynthesise as well as its more usual counterpart, but when measured by satellites, these non-green varieties skew results on plant health. FLEX is different. Experiments using ‘mutants’ show that colour won’t be an obstacle in this new mission’s task of mapping plant health from space.

Touch on climate

Summer school shines

Young scientists from all over the world have gathered for their two-week summer school course at ESA’s ESRIN centre for Earth observation in Frascati, Italy.

Summer school shines

Young Earth scientists from all over the world have gathered for their two-week summer school course at ESA’s ESRIN centre for Earth observation in Frascati, Italy.

Aladin wind probe ready for Aeolus

It has been years in the making, but one of the trickiest pieces of space technology ever developed is finally ready to join its satellite for launch by the end of next year. With this milestone, we are another step closer to a better understanding of Earth’s winds.

Iranian painting

Earth from Space

SMOS tracks Pacific fresh water pools

ESA’s SMOS satellite has found a rise in fresh water in the tropical Pacific Ocean during last year’s El Niño event.

Sand and sea

Sand and sea

CryoSat sets new standard for measuring sea levels

Trying to measure sea levels around rugged coastlines is not always an easy task. ESA’s CryoSat satellite is making a difference with its radar altimeter.

Tonga

Earth from Space

Chilly summer for Sentinel-2B

While most of us may be looking forward to spending some time in the sunshine this summer, the Sentinel-2B satellite is being subjected to the extreme cold of space to make sure it is fit for life in orbit.

Sundarbans web

Earth from Space

Europe’s workhorse Sentinel ready for action

Getting the bigger picture on the health of our planet drew another step closer today as Europe’s Sentinel-3A satellite was handed over to Eumetsat for operations.

CryoSat reveals recent Greenland ice loss

In the most detailed picture to date, information from ESA’s CryoSat satellite reveals how melting ice in Greenland has recently contributed twice as much to sea-level rise as the prior two decades.

ESA’s Dragon cooperation with China extended to 2020

ESA and China have launched the fourth phase of the collaborative Dragon programme in Wuhan City, on the Yangtze River, which recently experienced major floods witnessed by Europe’s Sentinel-1 satellite.

Malaspina Glacier

Earth from Space

A study in scarlet

Looking out for coral bleaching

The EOMAP aquatic remote sensing company, together with partners at the Remote Sensing Research Centre of Queensland University and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, are developing new methods to monitor and detect coral bleaching events using Europe’s Sentinel-2A satellite. 

Mount St Helens

Earth from Space

Sentinels for Regions

Mediterranean wonders

Earth from Space

Floating Piers

Sentinel space testing

Sentinel space testing

Sentinel-1 satellites combine radar vision

The twin Sentinel-1 satellites have – for the first time – combined to show their capability for revealing even small deformations in Earth’s surface.

Southern Tibetan Plateau

Earth from Space

New ESA Director of Earth Observation

At a restricted meeting of the ESA Council held in Paris today Mr Josef Aschbacher was appointed as ESA Director of Earth Observation.

New ESA Director of Earth Observation

At a restricted meeting of the ESA Council held in Paris today Mr Josef Aschbacher was appointed as ESA Director of Earth Observation.

Sentinel-1B timelapse

Calling App developers

United Kingdom

Earth from Space

Estonia’s first contract with ESA focuses on ocean health

Estonia has been awarded its first contract since becoming an ESA Member State in 2015. Over the next three years, scientists from Estonia’s Tartu Observatory will head an international team to ensure that Sentinel-3’s measurements of ocean colour are of the highest quality possible.

Monitoring pipelines from space

Dutch company Orbital Eye has developed a service that uses satellites to monitor gas and oil pipelines. A major African pipeline operator has already signed up for the service.

Southern Maine

Earth from Space

First EDRS laser image

Sentinels in the fields

The unprecedented frequency of Sentinel observations capture rapid changes in agricultural production from national to field scale, serving as a major support for environmental monitoring and agricultural subsidy control.

Mapping that sinking feeling

For a low-lying, densely populated country like the Netherlands, monitoring subsidence is critical. Until recently, tiny displacements in the ground beneath our feet couldn’t be mapped nationally but, thanks to the Sentinel-1 mission, this is now possible.

Fort McMurray fires

Chile's salt flat

Sentinel-1 helping Cyclone Roanu relief

Cyclone Roanu has claimed over 100 lives in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and has left tens of thousands in need of aid. Officials are looking to the sky for information on flooded areas to analyse the cyclone’s aftermath and support emergency response activities.

Earth from Space

Call for media

Sentinel-1A spots potential oil slick from missing EgyptAir plane

The Sentinel-1A radar satellite has detected a potential oil slick in the eastern Mediterranean Sea – in the same area where EgyptAir flight MS804 disappeared early yesterday morning on its way from Paris to Cairo.

Rub’ al Khali Desert

Canadian fires tracked by satellites

Wildfires have been raging in Canada’s Alberta province for nearly three weeks, causing widespread destruction and forcing thousands of people from their homes. As the blaze grows and shifts, satellites are tracking its movement.

Sun glitter reveals coastal waves

Sentinel-2A is demonstrating how it can be used to help forecast ocean waves around our coasts: sunlight reflected from the water surface reveals complex waves as they encounter the coastline and seafloor off the tip of Dorre Island, Western Australia.

Earth from Space

African mosaic

Simulating Tropomi

Living Planet 2016

Methane and carbon dioxide on the rise

Satellite readings show that atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide are continuing to increase despite global efforts to reduce emissions.

Earth from Space

Complex data made easy

While the growing volume information from satellites observing Earth offers a unique opportunity for science and applications, it is sometimes difficult to make sure these complex data streams are exploited to their full potential. ESA is addressing this challenge with ‘Thematic Exploitation Platforms’.

Complex data made easy

While the growing volume information from satellites observing Earth offers a unique opportunity for science and applications, it is sometimes difficult to make sure these complex data streams are exploited to their full potential. ESA is addressing this challenge with ‘Thematic Exploitation Platforms’.

Water for crops

Earth from Space

From petabytes to pictures

Thousands of scientists are at the Living Planet Symposium in Prague this week to present the latest findings on our changing planet. Between the mountains of data coming from multiple satellites and the high level of expertise needed to translate them into useful information, the results are not always easy to understand.

Dynamic peninsula

Earth from Space

Earth’s magnetic heartbeat

With more than two years of measurements by ESA’s Swarm satellite trio, changes in the strength of Earth's magnetic field are being mapped in detail.

Earth’s magnetic heartbeat

With more than two years of measurements by ESA’s Swarm satellite trio, changes in the strength of Earth's magnetic field are being mapped in detail.

Sea-level highs and lows

Earth from Space

Spotlight on our living planet

One of the biggest Earth observation conferences in the world got off to a flying start today as thousands of scientists from around the world gathered in the Czech Republic to present their latest findings on our changing planet.

Czechered landscape

Living Planet opens

Symposium App

Living Planet Symposium

Follow the Symposium

Zachariae Isstrom

Earth from Space